Don't ever expect the Yankees to sellers at trade deadline

BALTIMORE – Sellers by the non-waiver trade deadline? Not the Yankees.

Not in 2014, the final season for Derek Jeter, who has played exactly one game in 20 seasons in which the Yankees were eliminated from postseason contention.

Not this year, with 40 home games still to be played at Yankee Stadium in the second half.

Not with seats to fill, sponsors to satisfy and YES Network ratings to maintain.

Not as long as they’re in shouting distance in an unremarkable AL East, with 39 games remaining against teams within the division.

Even if Masahiro Tanaka were to undergo Tommy John surgery tomorrow instead of the rehab course that — in the ultimate best-case-scenario – gets him back on a big-league mound by late August, the Yankees would be obliged to press on.

Their bullpen is strong and their underachieving lineup is more or less intact. They have the resources to add pieces without giving up chunks of their farm system, such as buying a contract like Cliff Lee’s.

They could deal for a bat with an expiring contract, such as Josh Willingham.

And unless you’re trading Dellin Betances and David Robertson for prospects, which players (Brett Gardner?) on the Yankees’ 25-man roster are capable of bringing back a fabulous prize package?

Right, it’s tough for any club to lose four starters and expect them to contend for a title.

But because of those losses, "we’ve been aggressive and we’ll continue to be aggressive unless I’m told otherwise," general manager Brian Cashman said this week, putting it on ownership to tell him when to cut bait.

And that’s unlikely to happen, even with the sons of Steinbrenner in charge.

The Yankees weren’t sellers last year at the break, trailing by six games in the division with Mark Teixeira lost, Curtis Granderson out and Derek Jeter making a cameo. Two weeks later and seven games out, the Yanks traded for Alfonso Soriano.

Historically, of course, the Yankees haven’t had to be sellers.

And even in some of the leaner seasons under George Steinbrenner, who valued stars, the Yanks weren’t very active sellers.

The Yankees’ biggest recent in-season trade of a major name to a contender dates to 1989, when they sent Rickey Henderson to Oakland for three players in their 20s. Oakland went on to win the World Series and the Yanks finished fifth.

Before that, where do you go?

How about 1967, when the seventh-place Yanks dealt Elston Howard to the Red Sox, of all places. Boston won the pennant. Then, it’s back to 1945, when they sold ace Hank Borowy to the Cubs. The Yanks finished fourth, the Cubs won their last pennant.

Maybe we’ll see another Cubs pennant before the Yanks are sellers again.